1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radioactive substance administrator utilized to safely administer a radioactive or radiation emitting substance, such as a radionuclide to a patient during the performance of various procedures, the administrator being structured to be convenient to utilize, implement and manipulate, and to substantially shield a user thereof from excessive exposure to a radioactive material, thereby minimizing long term exposure to individuals who regularly work with the radioactive substances.
2. Description of the Related Art
The administration of radionuclides to diagnose and treat various diseases is a well established science. Virtually every hospital in the United States, as well as many in foreign countries, have a nuclear medicine department dedicated to localizing and/or treating a myriad of pathologies utilizing radionuclides as part of an examination procedure. In particular, each of the many patients who undergoes a radionuclide exam is administered a radionuclide, either orally, intravenously, intracavitarily, or subcutaneously for an affected area. Once within the patient, the radionuclide, in combination with a variety of other testing equipment responsive thereto, provides valuable feed back as to the condition of the patient or the location of a particular source of problems.
By far the most common type of administration of the radionuclide is intravenous administration. Specifically, intravenous administration of the radionuclide involves the injection of the radionuclide into a patient, typically through an intravenous type tube. Often, however, the radionuclide is not directly introduced into the patient, such as by direct penetration of a loaded syringe, but rather in the many cases the radionuclide is introduced in line with an intravenous tube or connection that is otherwise coupled to the patient, and utilizing an acceptable intravenous fluid the radionuclide material is pushed or washed into the patient's blood stream. The travel of the radionuclide through the patient's blood stream can therefore be subsequently monitored due to its radioactivity emitting properties.
As a result of the popular nature and frequent utilization of intravenous administration of radionuclides, intravenous radionuclide administration is a primary source of exposure to radiation for medical operators. In particular, although a variety of different techniques are currently employed in an effort to minimize the exposure of any individual, including the patient and medical operator, to radioactive substances, for the medical operator this risk is greatly increased due to the large volume of procedures which they must perform each and every day. For example, although the amount of radioactivity experienced by a particular patient during a particular procedure may be relatively insignificant, repeated daily exposure to even minimal amounts of radioactivity on a recurrent basis can eventually lead to prolonged, adverse reactions in the medical operator equivalent to a high single exposure. Accordingly, any structure or assembly which further minimizes the exposure of the medical operators to radioactivity, will decrease the overall exposure of those individuals over a prolonged period of time by drastic amounts.
As indicated, presently in the art the most common type of administration of radionuclide and/or other radioactive substances which may be used for similar testing, is the intravenous injection of the radionuclide. Prior to use, the radioactive substance is typically contained within a shielded container, which in turn is usually contained within a shielding working area. When administration of a dosage is required, a medical operator manipulates the necessary equipment and substances within the shielded environment so as to dispense an appropriate amount of the radioactive substance into a typically conventional type syringe. At this stage, because of the shielded working area, the medical operator as well as any other individuals present in the vicinity of the radioactive substance are fully shielded and protected from radioactive emissions. Unfortunately, however, once the dosage has been dispensed into the syringe, the medical operator must eventually remove the loaded syringe from the shielded working area in order to effectively administer the contents of the syringe to the patient. It is during this time period that a majority of the exposure to the radioactive substance is experienced, and as a result, it is during this time period which the attenuation of the radioactivity would be most beneficial.
Presently in the art there have been numerous attempts to develop shielding type structures which will somewhat shield the syringe during transport and administration of the radioactive substance to the patient. Unfortunately, however, most such radiation shields, which typically fit only over the main body of the syringe, do not substantially shield the entire syringe from the emergence of radioactivity. In particular, because the plunger type assembly of the syringe must be depressed by the medical operator in order to effectuate proper administration, the plunger portions are usually open and fully exposed to unhampered radioactivity emission. Naturally, this can be particularly hazardous when a medical operator stands over a syringe and/or places their hand over the unshielded rear of the syringe during dispensing. Indeed, it is noted that the radioactivity is directed outwardly from unshielded portions of a syringe much like a beam.
Of additional concern is the open dispensing end of the syringe and the area immediately outside the syringe during administration. As can be appreciated, the open dispensing end of the syringe must typically be completely open so as to provide for the injection of the radioactive substance. As a result, even though a medical operator can take great care in ensuring that the open end is not "pointed" at themselves or other individual, when the dispensing actually takes place in the vicinity of the patient, the inconsistent manipulation that can often take place, including the putting down of the dispensing syringe so as to actuate an intravenous fluid source or open a valve, can sometimes result in excessive dispersement of radioactivity. Even more so, utilizing the conventional techniques for the intravenous injection of the radioactive substance, the radioactive material is typically ejected from the syringe into a conduit until the intravenous fluid source pushes the radioactive substance into the patient. As can be appreciated, even during substantially rapid manipulation, the radioactive substance will necessarily be maintained completely exposed for a certain period of time before the intravenous fluid can rapidly push it into the patient. As a result, it is seen that there is a substantial need in the art for a radioactive substance administrator which will effectively maintain the radioactive substance shielded to the maximum extent possible for as much time as is possible during which exposure may be prevalent. Furthermore, such an administrator should be easy to manipulate without requiring excessive adaptation or modification of existing dispensing syringe type structures. For example, presently in the art large self contained dispensing carts including elaborate and very heavy shielded mechanical structures are in existence for the dispensing of radioactive material. Such devices, however, while attempting to completely maintain shielding of the radioactive substance from the medical operator, still require the medical operator to effectively introduce the radioactive substance into the dispensing device, and require the expensive, heavy and complex device be handled and manipulated into a dispensing position. Naturally, such devices can often be substantially impractical for extensive and repeated uses, especially in circumstances where multiple tests utilizing radioactive substances are being undertaking at one time. Accordingly, a preferred radioactive substances administrator should not only be substantially safe by significantly shielding radioactive emission, but should not go to an opposite extreme by being overly costly, complex and/or cumbersome so as to compromise the general usability of the system by trained medical operators.